President Donald Trump revealed Wednesday that he will consider pardoning two men convicted in 2022 of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. At a ceremony to swear in the new U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., Trump asserted his belief that the 2022 trials may have “railroaded” Barry Croft and Adam Fox, and that he would consider a pardon for these two defendants.
Trump’s attitude toward the case is not unique; since 2021, there have been concerns about the practices used by the FBI during the investigation.
After their arrest in 2020, Fox and Croft were charged at the federal level along with four other alleged conspirators. Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks pleaded guilty, and the jury in the initial trial acquitted Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta. However, the same jury was unable to decide Croft and Fox’s fate.
The jury’s acquittal of Harris and Caserta came amid reports of misconduct among informants and agents. The defense accused the FBI of engaging in entrapment during its investigation. Fox’s lawyer, Christopher Gibbons, claimed that without the government’s involvement, no part of the kidnapping plot would have progressed.
The FBI provided large sums of money to some informants while the investigation was underway. Dan Chapel was paid roughly $54,000 for his part in the investigation and rose to become second-in-command within the ring of the alleged conspirators. Chapel was not the defense’s only concern; other informants participated in other controversial activities during the investigation, including holding the group of alleged conspirators together.
Similar to Gibbons, Caserta (one of the men whom the first jury acquitted) believes the government is at fault for the intensity of the case. He even stated: “The FBI obviously concocted this entire thing.”
Despite the accusations of entrapment and claims that Fox and Croft were all talk, both men were sentenced in December 2022. Now, Trump is taking a third look at the case and is seemingly leaning toward the defense’s arguments.
“It looked … like somewhat of a railroad job … they were drinking, and I think they said stupid things,” Trump said to the press.
Trump’s willingness to reexamine the case has also created dissent. Whitmer herself said yesterday: “[I am] very disappointed in it, frankly… we have to condemn political violence.” The governor said she plans to reach out to the White House about the matter.
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